The present invention relates to silicone compositions for the treatment of fibers. More precisely, it concerns polysiloxane compositions which can impart water repellency and oil repellency to fiber materials.
Conventionally, water repellency is imparted to fiber materials using methylhydrogenpolysiloxane or dimethylpolysiloxane directly, or as an emulsion or solution in an organic solvent, a catalyst for curing and with subsequent heat treatment. In this case, the treated fiber materials actually demonstrate an effective water repellency, but their oil repellency is poor.
Therefore, a specific fiber treatment agent primarily consisting of fluorinated hydrocarbons is generally used in order to impart oil repellency to the fiber materials. In this case, this treatment agent is very expensive and the treatment process is very difficult because of a limitation of solvents for dilution. In addition, the drawback cannot be avoided that an undesirable feel is given to the treated fiber materials and in particular to fabrics for clothing.
In Kokai Japanese Pat. No. Sho 50(1975)-140388, it was proposed that a partially hydrolyzed condensation product of diorganopolysiloxanes having perfluoroalkyl-alkoxysiloxane and alkyl-alkoxysiloxane units and having OH groups at both ends can be used for dirt protection on inorganic materials such as slate slabs and tiles. However, it is actually very difficult for such a resin-like coating agent to penetrate into the interior of fiber materials. In terms of chemical composition, such an agent is completely different from the compositions of this invention.
In Japanese Pat. No. Sho 47(1972)-38505, it was proposed that a filter cloth having excellent durability with respect to twisting and excellent lubrication properties can be obtained by treating an inorganic fiber cloth with an organopolysiloxane containing trifluoromethyl-substituted aromatic groups. In this case, the obtained cloth lacks washing resistance and hot water washing resistance because of the noncuring nature of the treatment agent.
In Japanese Pat. No. Sho 42(1967)-2637, a method for imparting water repellency to the fibrous organic materials was proposed by the treatment of the fibrous materials with vapor of silanes containing perfluoroalkyl groups. According to this method, the control of the treatment process is very difficult and there is the drawback that retention and durability of the treatment effects are poor.